Last week’s column concerning Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis generated a strong response from readers, and much of it, as predicted, was negative. The majority felt Davis’ refusal to issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples because it violated God’s law was a principled exercise of civil disobedience.
Unfortunately the definition of civil disobedience does not support the argument. Civil disobedience is when a civilian, hence the “civil,” refuses to obey a law or regulation the individual believes violates the Constitution, the Bible or the Da Vinci Code. (Civil disobedience doesn’t have to make sense, but coherence helps if you want to start a GoFundMe.com account.)
Davis is a government official, not a civilian. When the government ignores or disobeys a law the correct term is not civil disobedience, it’s the “Obama Administration.” What Davis did gave homosexual advocates a priceless gift.
After the Supremes ruled sexual orientation is just an adjective and not a noun in marriage, Davis’ refusal to follow the law is a civil rights violation and an unequal application of the law as written by five unelected judges.
That’s why Davis spent six days in jail for contempt of court and got to meet Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee.
Please don’t tell me the sentence was not fair. Of course it wasn’t fair, that’s the intention. Rachel Alexander and Michael Brown have pointed out the left defies the law with impunity. San Francisco Mayor and adulterer Gavin Newsom ordered his clerks to issue homosexual marriage licenses in defiance of the law. He’s now California’s lieutenant governor.
The Washington, D.C. police chief and California sheriffs refuse to issue concealed weapon permits, defying the judiciary, and they’re still in office.
Mayors announce they will defy immigration law and good sense, making their jurisdictions sanctuary cities for other lawbreakers. None of them went to jail or had so much as an investigation by the U.S. Injustice Dept.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring -the most accomplished campaign liar in commonwealth history - refused to defend laws limiting marriage to heterosexuals because he felt the law was unconstitutional. Exactly the same type of feelings-based interpretation Kim Davis used.
Davis, however, didn’t do herself any favors when she stopped issuing marriage licenses to hetero and homosexual couples, thereby punishing the innocent along with the indignant.
The culture and the media are at war with God and his believers, which puts us at a disadvantage since we don’t believe the end justifies the means, a philosophy the left embraces with gusto.
We can formulate an effective strategy by going back to the fundamental issue. Same-sex marriage is a visible rebellion against God and the created order. What gives Christian’s some leverage, if used correctly, is the obvious fact same-sex marriage is a parody of real marriage. That’s why homosexuals demand both tolerance and at least tacit approval.
This means Christian government officials can keep their jobs while making a real parody of the ceremony.
Let’s start by giving Kim Davis options. The judge demands she sign and issue marriage certificates. In many offices the certificates are printed on demand. So when homosexuals demand a license print it on a brown paper bag.
If that’s not feasible, Davis can sign using finger paint in a parody of a signature. She can misspell the name of the groom and groom or bride and bride as the case may be. She can sign “Kim Davis Under Duress” or “Kim Davis Romans 1: 26-27.”
Will the judge jail her over penmanship or typos?
The Oregon judge currently under investigation for refusing can adopt the same technique. He can perform the ceremony dressed like the grand marshal of a Pride Parade. He can wear a button reading “Adam & Eve; Not Adam & Steve” or “Romans 1: 26-27.” The good judge could even sing the ceremony or mumble like Mr. Bean.
He’s not in court so judicial decorum doesn’t apply.
In this instance turn-about is fair play. Homosexual agitators have zero qualms regarding destroying the integrity of an institution that’s thousands of years old, why should we hesitate to rain on a parade that started yesterday?
Michael Shannon is a commentator and public relations consultant, and is the author of “A Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times.” He can be reached at mandate.mmpr@gmail.com